The Kakapo

Okay, so I'm not exactly making one of these every day. But it's winter, and I work, so it is therefore too cold (and dark) before work and too dark (and cold) after work for me to be particularly motivated. Plus, I'm still trying to adjust to the switch in light/dark rhythms, thanks to being in the northern hemisphere for a month.

And yeh, I'm slack.

So, here's a kakapo:

He's for a lass I am doing a trade with over on DeviantArt.

Kakapo are critically endangered - in fact, they're technically extinct in the wild. Some years ago now all remaining birds were taken into captivity for a breeding program. There were less than 60 left at the time, and the population now numbers around 126. There are many, many interesting facts on kakapo and I could almost write a novel, so we'll keep this short.

- They're the only flightless parrot in the world
- They breed very slowly - only producing eggs after mast seeding events which provide plentiful seeds

- Kakapo are the only parrot to use a lek system for mating
- The male plays no part in raising the young - his only duty is to fertilise the female.
- Sirocco is probably the most famous kakapo, he was partly raised by humans and looks to them as his ideal mate, thus is not good breeding material. He has become the official Spokesbird for New Zealand and acts as am ambassador. He even has a facebook page.